'SHE was a friend to everyone she met' - York is mourning the loss of a woman who taught music to thousands of people.
Mother of three Rachel Whittaker, from Wilberfoss, was just 47 when she lost her battle with ovarian cancer in April this year.
Her husband, Ben, said: "Rachel was a friend to everyone, genuinely, she was full of love and kindness for everyone. She loved life and she loved music.
"She touched so many lives in so many special ways, and has left behind a legacy of love and kindness. As she battled with cancer, she never stopped sharing her smile and positivity, always being a friend to everyone."
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Rachel was well-known in and around Wilberfoss and Stamford Bridge, and spent many years as a primary school and music teacher starting off at Norton primary near Malton and then moving on to Stamford Bridge and Wilberfoss primary schools.
She will be remembered especially for the choirs that she set up and ran for many years. It was back in 2016 when leading a children’s choir, that adults at Stamford Bridge School, where she worked, school noticed that they were having so much fun, they asked if she would consider starting a choir for them too and she was persuaded to set up the Stamford Bridge Community Choir.
The choir quickly grew to about 80 people and has gone from strength to strength. Rachel was also instrumental in starting another choir for young people with and without special needs, called the Sign and Sign Maestros with her friend, Jo Bryenton, a Makaton tutor.
The legacy of both these choirs still continues, now under the direction of her husband, Ben.
Jo said: "I only knew Rachel for two years but it felt like I’d known her for years. We formed a very close relationship working together to set up and then run Sing and Sign Maestros and I am honoured to have been able to call her my friend. She was an amazing woman and she is much missed."
Rachel met Ben aged just 11 at Meadowhead School in Sheffield where they played in the band and orchestra. Rachel was a keen trombone player, with Ben on the clarinet and saxophone. They were good friends throughout secondary school and started dating before they left aged 16. They studied together at college, which included A-Level music, then they both completed music degrees at different universities. They got married at 23 and have three children; Reuben, 20, Martha, 14 and Jonas, 12.
Rachel's friend, Kate Mallender, said: "I met Rachel through Stamford Bridge Community Choir which she started just over seven years ago. We had such enormous fun at choir, I think we laughed more than we sang some weeks. She was so welcoming, encouraging and supportive, not only to all the choir members and their families but to everyone she met. Family came first and foremost for Rachel, she lived for her family and loved them all dearly."
Artist, Sue Clayton, knew Rachel and painted her, said: "The portrait of Rachel is a personal project to me celebrating women who have that mischievous twinkle in their eye.
"I started with a portrait I created for the Queen's jubilee and have kept adding to it as I feel the need. Rachel is there alongside Miriam Margoyles, Dame Maggi Smith, Jenny Eclair and my mum so far.
"I was fortunate to know Rachel through the Sing and Sign Maestros. Each Friday James, my son who has Down Syndrome, and I would go along to the choir - an oasis of an hour of fun, music and laughter. Rachel was a great music talent and how she got us rabble to sing in harmony I'll never know! However, it was her sense of fun, care and huge compassion that was a joy to witness each week. An incredible, inspiring person I was so pleased came into our lives."
Today (June 30) the children at Wilberfoss CE Primary are celebrating Rachel's life with a special concert for York Against Cancer who supported Rachel through her illness.
People can donate here: justgiving.com/fundraising/celebratingrachelwhittaker
About 500 people attended a memorial service in Acomb to celebrate Rachel's life.
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